"Bordered by China, Thailand, India, Laos PDR and Bangladesh, Myanmar?s uninterrupted coastline extends more than 1900 kilometres along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. Home to more than 60 million people, Myanmar is undergoing significant economic, social and political change since the easing of international trade and economic sanctions. In 2000, the World Health Organization ranked the Myanmar (Burma) among the lowest of 190 countries for their health systems. The relatively poor health infrastructure in Myanmar coupled with a very low GDP spend on health care (below 3%), basic road infrastructure and rural services, there are significant challenges to effective health services delivery. Major health challenges facing the country according to the World Health Organization include: -Low life expectancy rates- 63 years for a male and 67 years for a female; - High mortality for children under five years (62 per 1,000 live births); -High maternal mortality rate (200 per 100,000 live births); -Incidence of malaria per 100,000 population is 3180; -75 per cent of the population lives in high malaria prevalence areas; -High TB burden – more than 300,000 cases of tuberculosis with a five per cent MDR-TB rate; -High HIV burden – more than 240,000 cases with an estimated 10 per cent co-infection of HIV/tuberculosis; -Widespread poverty, lack of proper sanitation and water supply, malnutrition and poor health awareness"...